RoperDK

19 hours ago, Liljo22 said:

So I was on one of the first cruises when Carnival switched to once a day in 2019.  You had to pick if you wanted morning or evening service.  If you selected morning, the steward would still come back in the evening for turn down service but would not clean.

We experienced that, too.  It isn't that way anymore.  However, when we were on our last Carnival cruise on Mardi Gras in Oct. 2021 our cabin steward did bring us ice in the evening too because I had knee replacement and needed the ice for swelling.  He got a large tip! 

16 hours ago, Longford said:

Question:  My cruise was 7 nights.  Western Caribbean.  I was uncertain of the appropriate cash gratuity I should leave the room steward.  I was pleased with the service and interaction.  So, I left $50 cash ... the morning before arriving back in Tampa.  After leaving the gratuity I encountered the room steward twice.  Not once did he thank me.  Is lack of expressions of thanks typical, or required by RCL?  I know that when my hotel housekeeping staff was rewarded they typically left a note of thanks.  Since I'm a newbie to cruising, I just don't know.  😁

 

 People's extra tip choices are all over the place.  Since you had already covered the steward's basic gratuity with your daily charge, then I would think $50 is quite generous.  There are only two of us and we keep the cabin very tidy, but do request extra towels, ice, and leave a few glasses that need to be picked up.  We usually leave and extra $20 to $40.  If we have asked for something unusual or more time consuming, then we tip more.  Only once did we not tip extra when we received some pretty awful service.  Once we start to receive once a day service and the service charge remains the same, I doubt we will tip extra.  As far as not acknowledging your extra tip, we have noticed the same thing post covid on Royal.  In general, Royal's stewards have been polite, but not overly friendly.  This is just our experience.       

13 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I must be the ancient mariner. Started Carnival in 1989, moved to Royal in 2008. Our last ship was Glory out of PC

Started on Carnival Triumph in 1999. Really loved their 50% off military rates and the value product they used to offer.  You could get filet mignon every night in the MDR.  Things started slipping about 10 years ago.  We've been trying other lines and have settled on Royal for now.  Our last Carnival cruise will be next month on Mardi Gras.  It's a milestone cruise and it is hard to pass up all of that OBC.  We will have a good time regardless and try not to end up on YouTube! 😉  

11 minutes ago, sid_9169 said:

The talking lady is from Alabama, that explains it.

 

***No offense to anyone from Alabama, but...

Lol, I worked and have since retired in Alabama. Grew up in Miami.  Spent 23 years in the Air Force moving about.  I do enjoy it here, but I have zero southern accent.  A lot of people still say "you're not from around here are you" even though I've lived here for twenty years.  🤣 

1 minute ago, mpdog42 said:

But on Carnival you get to be on "Youtube"...Would that be a "Improvement?🤪

Lol, we are Carnival old timers...been cruising on them for over twenty years.  I defended the brand for many years and felt they offered a good product.  Not so much any more...

31 minutes ago, flamingos said:

 

I hang the towels I want to keep - and some stewards change them anyway.  The ones on the floor (under the sink) are the ones I want changed.  As for places to hang them, there are usually 4 hooks on the bathroom door, and we bring some of our own for in the room.

 

It seems that removing our "saved" towels happens more often than not.  I really wish they would leave them. We do reuse our towels, but more often than not, those left on hooks are still wet many hours later.   

1 minute ago, jean87510 said:

Wasn't too big of a fan of the Carnival Magic one as our room steward was doing 3 floors in Cloud 9 apparently by herself (although I saw different room stewards in the Cloud 9 area so...) and she could only do 1x a day.  This unfortunately was 1x for a 5 day cruise and the only time she cleaned was the day she left a tip envelope.  We took our towels from the carts in the hallway. I really don't care as long as they give us towels and empty trash.  We did call housekeeping on day 3, and were told someone would be by...👀

This is what I am afraid will happen.  Carnival continues to overwork their staff and in turn that staff doesn't try or can't do a good job anymore.  Royal needs to avoid this perception at all costs!    

Oh my, I have mixed feelings about this. First of all, they don't CLEAN the cabin twice a day.  The second visit is for touch up....fresh towels, empty trash, ice, and the elusive paper copy of the daily activities (if available).  The gratuity rate is going up and the services offered is going down.  We left Carnival because of these guest "improvements".  Service on Carnival has become a joke and I would hate for Royal to go down that path. At least Carnival has lower pricing. We can easily do with once a day cabin servicing.  We leave everything neat as a pin. That is the way we live at home, also.  I do like coming back in the evening to a refreshed cabin with no wet towels hanging around the small bathroom. We cruise in suites, so I guess we won't have any changes.  I feel for families in smaller cabins.  How do they keep their small space in order?  People seem to accept these many cutbacks throughout all areas of the ship along with price increases. We on the other hand are evaluating our future cruising plans.            

3 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I generally don't throw wet towels on the floor at home. The 'help' would get pissed😉

I don't do that at home either. However, my bathroom at home is quite a bit larger with places to hang those wet towels. 😄

Is the upcharge prime rib any good?  We actually like the free lunch buffet on sea days.  Has that changed, too?  At least you could have them plate you a regular side serving size! 😁

Well, a little off topic, but I think I have the right crowd here.  Once you get onboard can Suites, Diamonds, and Platinums go drop off their luggage right away?  We are in a suite and Platinum if that matters.  This is my first cruise since priority was reinstated.  

2 hours ago, wemjam said:

  I know standard procedure before was they just called Wedding, Diamond, Platinum, and then Faster to the Fun - then general boarding by zones.  Not sure if that is what they are doing now? 

Where do suites fit in now?   

Does it still have the daily specials?  Thought I read somewhere that they are now gone and there is a new dinner menu.  If so, does anyone have a copy of the new menu items? Thanks! 

Shhhh....please don't let this best kept secret out. 😉 Other than the Vista suites on deck 4, these are the best cabins on Spirit class. 

Just got a call from Celebrity.  I was booked on the Apr. 21st sailing.  It has indeed been cancelled.  They did offer a price protected move to either the Mar. 31st or Apr. 7th cruise.  We chose to move to the same itinerary in the same cabin on the Apr. cruise.  Received an extra $200 OBC to boot with the Black Friday offer.  I am pleased with the outcome.

10 minutes ago, gerelmx said:

 

It's marked code red, we need to wait for celebrity announcement

Since I'm new to Celebrity, what does code red mean and where would I find that?

This is my first booked Celebrity cruise.  It has disappeared from the website.  April 7th is the last cruise showing.  Does anyone have any insight?  Does Celebrity change their published itineraries often?   

6 hours ago, BecciBoo said:

And that is not entirely true.  We once knew of a woman who was a Cruise Critic member we had been talking to for months on the roll call, cut off by ship's security because she was abusing her package.  And I can assure you, she was no longer able to use it.  And it was warranted!  Everybody was talking about that incident.  

I believe I read somewhere that Royal can discontinue your drink package if you are sharing with others and I would certainly hope that they would not serve someone who obviously has had too much to drink. 

22 hours ago, karena1 said:

not on royal. You can have as many as you want.

Yes, Royal's drink package is truly unlimited.   

3 hours ago, karena1 said:

The 15 per day limit has been there forever.  So really no change from what they always have done

No matter if you have a drink package or are paying a la carte, they cut you off at 15 drinks.  The servers will not serve you again until the next day.  The 15 drink limit on Carnival has more to do with cost cutting than stopping bad behavior.  

On 11/2/2022 at 7:22 AM, orville99 said:

On both Harmony (October) and Mariner (July and August) they are now Salt+Breeze by BioEnergy wall mounted. 

15 hours ago, Ashland said:

Harmony...Interesting we had Malin-Goetz in our GS and 2 bedroom GS end of April on Harmony. Must be a supply issue.

This year I was in a JS on Odyssey in Mar.  We had the Salt+Breeze triple wall mounted (shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel) plus a lotion pump.  We had a GS on Mariner in May, a GS on Harmony in August, and an OS on Harmony in September.  On those sailings we had the Malin-Goetz products.  Perhaps orville99 was in a JS. 

Well, as luck would have it, I just checked pricing on our cruise and the S1 cabins were $800 less than the Magic Carpet Suites today.  Needless to say I rebooked in the S1!  Two days ago, the S1 was $2500 more than the Magic Carpet Suite.  Since we are new to Celebrity, I am confused by the pricing swings but will definitely roll with the flow, lol.

13 minutes ago, go.without.you said:

I had one of these cabins on Edge - the 1st one from the bow. I liked having the window to see forward, which is a glass porthole in the wall. We were able to have breakfast out there one morning when it was raining without getting wet because of that wall/window. Some people complain about the big orange thing that obstructs some of the view but I loved this cabin and would book it again.

Was yours a connecting cabin?  If so, was the connecting door in the cabin?  Did you have any noise issue?

1 hour ago, bigbenboys said:

 

Uh oh, it appears in this video that the end suites connect within the cabin! 😟 This is not what the booking agent told us.  This video is on the Edge.  Did they change this configuration on the later E class ships?  

6 minutes ago, GreenFamily said:

I understand the concept of the Magic Carpet, but what is a magic carpet suite? Does this mean your IV cabin experience will be interrupted when the MC moves up and down? Would you have strangers peering into your room? 

Since I've never been in one, I can only comment on what I have seen during my research.  The Magic Carpet doesn't move very often but when it does it will interrupt your view for about a minute.  There are no people onboard, so no privacy issues.  I have heard that there is minimal noise as it moves past your cabin.  It is a regular balcony. Larger than other Sky Suites, but with the beam blocking your view somewhat.  The end suites have a window on the balcony with views either forward or aft.  For us, the price was several thousand dollars less than the S1 Sky Suites.